Head‑on collision between car and truck kills family on BR-116

A serious accident involving a car and a truck on the BR‑116 highway near Tarumirim, Minas Gerais, resulted in the death of three members of the same family on Monday afternoon. The head‑on collision destroyed the passenger vehicle and caused the lane to be closed, mobilizing rescue teams and the Civil Police forensics. The incident generated widespread attention and inquiries about what happened in the Vale do Rio Doce region.

The accident on BR‑116

The crash occurred at about 3:15 p.m. at kilometer 475 of the BR‑116, in Tarumirim, near Dom Cavati. According to the concessionaire Eco Rio Minas, responsible for the section, a black Volkswagen Fox was traveling south when, for reasons still unknown, it entered the opposite lane. The passenger car collided head‑on with a truck traveling in the opposite direction. The front of the car was completely destroyed by the impact.

The victims of the head‑on collision

Three family members were in the vehicle and died as a result of the accident. In the front seat were a 58‑year‑old man and a 52‑year‑old woman, the parents of the third occupant. They were trapped in the metalwork, pressed between the seats and the dashboard, and died on site before the arrival of emergency teams. The truck driver was unharmed, remained at the scene to provide statements, and was later released.

Rescue of the couple’s son

The couple’s son, a 28‑year‑old man, was traveling in the rear seat of the passenger car. When the Minas Gerais Fire Department arrived at the BR‑116 stretch, the young man had already been removed from the interior of the vehicle. He was rescued alive in a critical condition and taken by a concessionaire ambulance to Hospital Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora in Caratinga. Despite medical care, the young man did not survive the injuries and also died.

The work of the rescue teams

To remove the bodies of the couple from inside the car, firefighters had to employ specialized vehicle‑salvage techniques. The personnel cut and removed the doors of the black Fox, and also bent the roof to allow the victims to be extracted. The bodies of the three family members were sent to the Caratinga Medical‑Legal Post for necropsy examinations and were then released to the relatives.

Investigations and traffic at the site

The crash initially caused a total closure of both lanes of the BR‑116 at kilometer 475. Later, traffic on the stretch was restored to a stop‑and‑go system under the coordination of the concessionaire. The Civil Police of Minas Gerais, through the Inhapim Civil Police Station, stated that it is investigating the causes, dynamics, and circumstances that led to the road accident.

With information from O GLOBO, CNN Brasil, Metrópoles.